Vodacom Group pointed to a 40 per cent uplift in data traffic in South Africa during the Covid-19 (coronavirus) lockdown period, as it insisted its business would remain resilient in the face of the pandemic.
In a statement announcing its full year results for the period ending 31 March, Vodacom said the data increase was driven by growth in paid traffic for businesses as employees work from home, and people increasingly using streaming services. There was increased free traffic for education, government and health portals.
The company said it is taking a number of steps to counter the possible effects of the pandemic, underpinned by a plan to shift from being a traditional operator to a technology-focused business in its home and international markets.
It added it decided to postpone the issuance of medium-term targets, as the outlook for economies it operates in are uncertain.
Numbers
Group revenue for fiscal Q4 reached ZAR22.7 billion, ($1.2 billion), up 4.5 per cent year-on-year, driven by growth at home and abroad.
In South Africa, Vodacom said it experienced service revenue growth despite a tough economic environment, with an increase in both enterprise and data customers.
The company does not break out a net profit figure for the quarter.
Its international business also experienced a surge in data customers, while a recent merger with Safaricom to acquire the m-Pesa mobile money brand boosted earnings.
Shameel Joosub, Vodacom CEO (pictured) said m-Pesa across international markets now processes more than $14.7 billion a month in transactions, with 40 million customers using the service across all of its operations.
At end-March, Vodacom had 116 million customers, an increase of 5.9 million.
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